1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector for electrically connecting a flexible printed circuit (FPC) with a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Description of Related Art
An electrical connector assembly for electrically connecting a flexible printed circuit (FPC) with a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises a plug connector mounted on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a mating socket connector mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). The plug connector is mated with the socket connector to establish the electrical connection between the FPC and the PCB.
A conventional socket connector comprises an insulative housing, a shielding mounted on the housing, a plurality of conductive terminals received in the housing, and a plurality of grounding tabs assembled with the housing. The grounding tabs are electrically connected with the shielding. In addition, the grounding tabs are respectively electrically connected with corresponding grounding tabs of the plug connector.
A typical electrical connector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,616. A socket connector of the electrical connector assembly comprises an insulative housing, a shielding, a plurality of conductive terminals, and a plurality of grounding tabs. The housing has a plurality of passageways defined therein. The conductive terminals and the grounding tabs are respectively received in the corresponding passageways. Furthermore, each of the conductive terminals and the grounding tabs has barbs defined on sides thereof. The barbs interferentially mate with insulative walls that separate every two adjacent passageways, thereby retaining the conductive terminals and the grounding tabs in the passageways. Because a large number of passageways are defined on the housing, a distance between every two adjacent passageways is relatively small. Each insulative wall is relatively thin and weak. Therefore, the barbs are not always interferentially mated with the insulative walls securely, and the conductive terminals and the grounding tabs may not be securely retained in the passageways. When this happens, electrical connection between the conductive terminals and the grounding tabs of the socket connector and conductive terminals and grounding tabs of a mating plug connector may be unstable or even lost.
Because the grounding tabs and the shielding of the socket connector are two separate parts, during manufacturing the socket connector, two separate molds respectively corresponding to the grounding tabs and the shielding need to be adopted. This increases manufacturing costs of the connector. In addition, electrical connection between the grounding tabs and the shielding is necessarily impeded to some degree.
When the socket connector is mated with the plug connector, the grounding tabs of the socket connector press the corresponding grounding tabs of the plug connector, thereby establishing the electrical connection therebetween. The grounding tabs of the socket connector are also pressed by the grounding tabs of the plug connector, thereby pressing a mating end of the shielding of the socket connector. The mating end of the shielding has a single layered configuration, and is relatively weak. After repeated mating and unmating of an FPC with the connector, the mating end tends to become distorted. This can disrupt the electrical connection between the socket and plug connectors.
In view of the above, a new electrical connector that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired.